New US sanctions hamper Iran bid to recover $1.75B

But he noted that the survivors and victims’ families do not “hold judgments against Bank Markazi, and they have never alleged that Bank Markazi had any involvement in the underlying events that gave rise to the default judgments,” said Lindsey, a partner with Chaffetz Lindsey LLP in New York.

In most cases, Iran has ignored legal proceedings in the United States. It has been all but cut off from US financial institutions as part of past sanctions against the country.

Lawyers for the survivors and families of the victims have argued that Iran’s central bank is part of the Iranian government, which played a role in the 1983 bombing.

All sides are closely examining the new law signed by Obama to see how it will apply to that case and whether it freezes the money indefinitely, or whether the money can be used to fulfill judgments against Iran.

“We’re studying the statute to establish its implications for our case,” said Steven Perles, an attorney for the survivors and victims’ families of the 1983 attack.

“We are expecting to have discussions about the statute with both the Treasury and the Congress,” he said. (By Jeremy Pelofsky and Basil Katz; Editing by Howard Goller and Todd Eastham)